The Biden government is increasing pressure on President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian rule in Nicaragua. New sanctions target the Central American country’s lucrative mining sector.

Biden’s decree includes the power to ban US companies from doing business in Nicaragua’s gold mines. The US Treasury Department, in turn, is imposing sanctions on the country’s mining agency and an Ortega confidante, the department said in a statement Monday.

Gold was Nicaragua’s top export last year, with precious metals exports totaling $867 million. 79 percent of that went to the United States, according to the country’s central bank.

Besides mining, the new sanctions package could also be used to block new US investment in other sectors in Nicaragua. The goal is “to refuse the resources needed to further undermine democratic institutions in Nicaragua,” the Americans said in a statement. Previous US sanctions were directed against dictator Ortega, his wife and Vice President Murillo and their families.

dictatorship

Ortega is a former guerrilla fighter. He has been in power in the Central American country since 2007, before that he was president from 1985 to 1990. In 2018, large-scale social protests broke out against his regime, which he put down with a heavy hand. Since these protests, Ortega has been in complete control of the country. Many members of the opposition, business people and journalists are stuck in the country.

Tensions also with the Netherlands

The new round of US sanctions comes amid recent tensions between the Netherlands and Nicaragua. Earlier this month, the country severed diplomatic ties with the Netherlands. This came after the Netherlands stopped funding the construction of a hospital. The EU ambassador to Nicaragua was also declared persona non grata. After that, Europe dismissed the Nicaraguan envoy from the EU.